Rosa Nagle

I believe that American theater is not inclusive. I am writing for change. I am concentrating on writing plays that feature characters with disabilities. I wrote one such short play that was part of a festival. I have now completed the first draft of this full-length play, 1, 2, 3 Theatre. 1, 2, 3 Theatre follows the story of three misfits, Paul, an actor with Down Syndrome, his best friend, Heather, and his sister Azul. Paul cannot find work as a stage actor due to his disability. Heather and Azul are excluded from their fields, also. The three band together, and start their own theater company. Along the way, they explore hidden hurts, and share their love, loss, and desires with their audience. Isn't that what theater is all about? For 1, 2, 3 Theatre, the character Paul must be played by an actor with a disability.

A short, political piece that explores American attitudes toward immigration. Every new century sounds like the one before it.

It's Thanksgiving. Julia is doing her best to deal with her husband Sam's infidelity, "passion, fury, middle-age decay", as she calls it. Along with inner turmoil, Julia has to deal with her family: Amelia, the patriarch who firmly believes in the family folklore than she and her children are descended from werewolves, originating with 19th-century Leonora DiNapoli; Julia's brother, Chuck, an exterminator who continually has existential experiences; and her son, Happy, who is serious, somber, and, perhaps, the non-definition of "happy". This play was inspired by Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. My character Julia, and cheating husband Sam, allude to Helena and Demetrius. My play is meant to be interactive, the audience joining the story for two scenes. It is written for an outdoor setting, and is easily adaptable for indoors.

In this play, a family is telling spooky campfire stories. But, the various stories reveal we are all truly haunted by “ghosts”, in many forms. Our stories bring us together, as well as tear us apart, for, ultimately, there is no scarier story than that of our hidden ghost. My play shifts among different time periods, using the idea of time differently. And, the split stage, where one side, the "campfire" side, and one side the "story" side, exists, uses space differently.

3 is the story of a woman, Diana, who is a survivor of the Boston Marathon Bombing last year. That event is the catalyst that brings her on a quest for answers about her family, her marriage, her life. Diana's quest reveals a truth that she never expected. She discovers that she does love her husband Andrew, and that her marriage is worth saving. But, as 3 unfolds, Diana finds that, in her life, as in all our lives, there are some answers we never receive. The actions of others are not often explicable. Sometimes, a person's reasons for his behavior does not make sense to anyone but him. Diana's story in 3 is actually presented as three stories woven into one-- Diana's story, her brother Gianni's story, and her parents' story. Our paths always intermingle so that one life never stands alone. In 3, Dad/Giacomo, is a commedia dell'arte actor. He appears as Pagliaccio in the play. I've included a lazzi. 3 combines drama, poetry, and comedy.

Mary, a highly intelligent, hypersensitive woman, along with her childhood friend Louisa, tries to cope with the death of her sister, June. Incapable of facing reality, Mary shuts her husband, Robert, and Louisa, out of her thoughts. Yet, they, too, are grieving the loss of their dear June, for different (and perhaps illicit reasons). Flitting often into her own thoughts and dreams, using Tarot cards and any divination possible, Mary fights in vain, and so do those near her, to understand this tragedy. How did June die? No one is sure. What is real? What is a dream? When ARE dreams reality? Try to solve the mystery...if you dare.

The year is 1972, Halloween. Fictitious small town Nathansville, Massachusetts, is humming with ghouls and ghosts. An eleven-year-old boy, Charlie, has gone missing. Han, a police captain, is determined to find the missing child. She is haunted by ghosts of other missing children. Are the cases related? How do a wounded soldier, an actress, and a newspaper editor fit into the story? The audience is led through a cemetery on two chases, a search for Charlie, and a hunt for the antagonist, in this interactive, immersive, outdoor mystery that weaves a story of guilt, betrayal, and justice.

Synopsis:

In my play, Bianca is trying desperately to organize her tapes. She is recounting important incidents which affected her life-- her rape, her family’s abandonment, and, lastly, her account of Sam, “the one who got away”, her one, true love. Bianca feels the weight of her age, 69. She wants to leave her history to her daughter, Louisa, so that Louisa can understand Bianca, who she was, why she became the woman she is. Though she tries not to concentrate on it, the past is being repeated, in her own family. Bianca senses this, and we are shown this. Bianca’s daughter, Louisa, has distanced herself from Bianca. Louisa, a single mom, her own “true love” having abandoned her, holds a grudge against Bianca and husband Salvatore for raising her son Steven, years ago. Can Bianca mend her relationship with Louisa? Is it possible? Is it too late?